March 5, 2026
Rise Against hit the stage at Montreal’s L’Olympia for their first of two shows
Spring is finally in the air, as Rise Against brought their angst filled political punk rock to Montreal for a pair of back to back shows at L’Olympia theatre.
With all that has happened around the globe in the past week or so around the world, – two wars breaking out, for one- having Rise Against pay us a visit in Montreal could not have been better timed.
See Also: The Offspring at Canadian Tire Centre, Ottawa
Beer in hand, I pondered at what Tim McIlrath, the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of Rise Against, might have to say tonight about current World affaires, given his lyrical content on subjects that are very relevant to the conflict in the so-called Middle East. As I looked around, seeing this beautiful, safe theatre packed with people, far away from any potential falling bombs, the night’s opening act walked out onto the stage. I for one, was eager for the tonight’s entertainment to begin; a little distraction from the world outside would be more than welcome.
Koyo
New York’s Koyo are a fairly new act in the world of punk rock, having formed in the year 2020. They’re a sort of supergroup, created from hardcore bands that include SeeYouSpaceCowboy, with vocalist Joey Chiaramonte hailing from the band Typecaste.
Apparently, tonight marked three years to the day since Koyo were last in Montreal, when they ventured in from Long Island with Bayside. That’s straight from the horses mouth, as the saying goes.
Unfortunately, Koyo suffered from a microphone that kept breaking up and from some of the worst mixing board work I have heard in some time. From several different spots in the room, I noticed that the guitars were practically non-existent, while the bass guitar was far, far too loud. All I could hear, and I did query this with some folks I knew in the crowd that had been watching from other spots, were the bass and the snare drum.
Koyo have but one studio album under their belts so far, 2023’s Would You Miss It? – with a second record on the horizon- from which two tracks of tonight’s set appeared to have come from. The first one was a single that was recently released, and the other, is a track that will be coming out this coming Tuesday, called What I’m Worth. They also have a compilation album comprised of EP’s, available as well.
Their new album, Barely Here, is due to see the light of day this coming May 8th.
Destroy Boys
They’re just a quick decade in and already, Destroy Boys is enjoying widespread success.
Recently, they’ve been gathering a lot of attention. They’ve been nominated for awards at the 25th Sacramento Area Music Awards, in the “New Artist”, “Punk/post-punk” and “Teen” categories. Tonight was my first time seeing them live and I had been looking forward to their set most of the week (and to photograph their set, but unfortunately, I didn’t get that chance.)
Tonight though, they suffered from the same awful soundboard issues that had plagued Koyo but only to a slightly lesser extent. This had led me to believe that whomever was working the sound board wasn’t very experienced with punk rock. I assume it was the same person working the console for both of the opening bands, and I was crossing my fingers hoping that person wasn’t in charge of the sound for Rise Against.
Maybe its for that reason that I found myself growing less interested in Destroy Boys during their performance. Being new to their music, there wasn’t much that made me want to return to it after tonight. However, in the name of fairness, I’ll give them a listen in YouTube or something at some point, and see if that changes my mind at all.
To me, based on a small sampling – as in tonight’s live set, I found that Destroy boys sound like if Courtney Barnett sang for Savages – which is an intriguing sound, but I found myself lacking interest in their set. Again, not to repeat myself, but there is a chance that stems from how poorly they sounded tonight.
Rise Against
Moments before Rise Against took to the stage, I found myself thinking back to the first time I saw them live.
I can’t remember the exact year, but I do recall it being on the Vans Warped Tour, on the grounds at Montreal’s Parc Jean Drapeau. This would be my first time hearing their music. It was an early set, and very few people had bothered to check them out. Myself, I was mesmerized by their performance. Eventually, I wandered over to their merch tent a little later in the day, where I would buy the compact disc of their newest record, Siren Song Of The Counter Culture. Tim McIlrath himself, alone in the merch tent, would sell it to me! After chatting a bit, I went on my way to enjoy the rest of the day. Thinking back on that moment, its pretty cool to see how far they’ve come since.
Tonight’s show, though nowhere nearly as intimate as that hot summer’s day, way back in the early-2000s, would be prove to quite memorable all the same. This was a big space, and it was jammed to the gills. Tomorrow night will be too, since they’re playing 2 nights in a row! Ah, but these days you’d be beyond lucky to find McIlrath slingin’ albums at the merch table. Times change and bands, like people, evolve.
I felt an instant feeling of relief sweep over me, when Rise Against began to play and the guitars were auditable and the bass was down where it should have been all night.
By the time Give It All and Satellite were played, the audience were crowd surfing and singing loudly along with McIlrath. Having seen their shows in multiple cities over the years, I can attest that there truly is no audience like that found here in Montreal. The bands all know it. Every other city knows, and yeah, we know it too!
Tonight, Montreal was in for treats like Rise Against’ new track, Prize Fighter, which will be on their upcoming new record – and deep cuts such as Far From Perfect – which the band claimed not to have played in at least nine years. Then again, they joked that this was the first time they’d ever played Prize Fighter live too, and that we all had internet access upon which to check into that. (Upon journalistic research, we can attest that that… was a lie).
“This is what its like to be an American in 2026” said McIlrath, before Rise Against began to play I Don’t Want To Be Here Anymore. I personally thought this was a pretty pointless thing to say. But what do I know. I’m as much left-wing as I am right-wing, which is to say I am hardline… right down the middle. I don’t want to hear about it. Anyway! Let’s continue on.
Rise Against danced about their discography, pulling out tracks like Wolves, the title track to the album Wolves,- See what I did there? Wasn’t that dreadful!- as well as Wait For Me, and another deep cut in Hairline Fracture. These would earn the band their first serenading of the classic Ole Ole Ole song that Montreal is known for. It’s our way of showing happiness and appreciation, normally at Habs games, but also at concerts, as well.
Hero Of War, then Swing Life Away brought McIlrath into the spotlight, as he pulled out an acoustic guitar for the moment. That led into the encore break, because everyone knows these days that the encore is a given, not reserved for special occasions anymore. It reminds me of how everyone is expected to tip, when that sort of thing used to be based on how good the service had been. Don’t get me started on that, or I’ll rant your ears off.
Once more, the crowd sang their Ole Ole Ole’s until Rise Against re-emerged onto the stage.
Savior was next, then Prayer For The Refugee and a wonderful set came to its curtain call.
Now that the night had wrapped up, I thought back again to that first time seeing Rise Against, as well as all the other times in between. An unexpected feeling of nostalgia washed over me. Since that first show, I had been a fan of the band and of McIirath’s lyrics, vocal style and point of view. Standing there, I realized the more things change, the more they stay the same. We have lots to be appreciative of. All those wonderful things we take for granted, could all come toppling down without a moment’s notice.
In these times of uncertainty, be good to the ones around you. You don’t have to agree with them, or even like them, but it costs nothing to remain kind.
Read More:
>> Montreal’s Taverne Tour festival turns 10
>> Lord Of The Lost at Beanfield Théâtre, Montreal
>> Blind Guardian at Mtelus, Montreal
Rise Against will be joined by Destroy Boys and Koyo tomorrow night for their second show. It is already confirmed as sold out.
Modern Free Press were not granted a photo pass for tonight’s show. Unfortunately, we’ve had to rely on cell phone images for this article. We don’t enjoy delivering sub-par imagery, but that’s the way they wanted it.
